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What you see here, is a Chinese bookkeeper presenting an article (the picture was taken by my friends Aude and Willem, who found the book in a Shanghai bookshop and were thrilled to read familiar English, after months of unintelligible Chinese characters).

The article explains how significant cycling is for Chinese culture. If you zoom in, you should be able to read the article – and learn how back in the 1970s, the bicycle was one of the three most prized possessions of Chinese families (together with: their sowing machine and wrist watch). The article states: “If someone lost a bicycle, the public security bureau would handle the case with great force”.

I repeat: “force”.

I wonder what would happen if the Gardai took a similar approach to bike theft in Dublin. I mean: nobody would want to be on the wrong end of that investigation, right?

Of course, China has changed since the 1970s. However, that bikes continue to be prized possessions in China can be seen in the 2 pictures below: diamond frame bicycles on display in an upmarket art gallery in Shanghai.

I wonder what the Chinese public bureau would do if that one got stolen?